Book review

Conservation for a New Generation is a collection of 24 thought-provoking essays that contribute to “Redefi ning Natural Resources Management.” The diverse contributions provide an inspiring introductio n to many of the challenges and opportunities currently faced by individuals and organizations working to sustain the land and seas for future generations. The relatively brief essays are readable and engaging, in part because most are based on the author(s)’ personal experiences. Some of the essays are extensively footnoted, providing links to other resources. The volume is well organized and clearly benefi ted from thoughtful editing by Knight, White, and the editors at Island Press. Although it is diffi cult to fi nd fault with such a positive, clearly written volume, two aspects seem to be at odds with its theme. With the exception of an inspiring essay on Midwestern farming, soils are virtually invisible, and soil science appears as neither a traditional nor an emerging discipline in the Introduction. A lack of understanding of how soil potential varies across landscapes and regions is a recurring source of the confl icts that the book attempts to address. Second, the promotion of collaborative approaches does not appear to be refl ected in authorship, because all but three essays are sole authored. Although individual refl ection can bring clarity, co-authorship is an effective way to encourage dialogue about unacknowledged differences in opinion, to generate new ideas, and to encourage academics and others to continue to break down barriers associated with traditional disciplines. These issues in no way detract from the overall value of the book, which should be of value for students, experienced practitioners, scientists, activists, landowners, and anyone who is interested in moving beyond confl ict to create sustainable solutions. All of the essays could be easily read in a single sitting during a long winter evening, but are perhaps better absorbed individually, because each brings a unique and diverse perspective to the continuing conversation about how to sustain the earth’s ecosystems.

In this book there is a division into two almost exactly equal parts of the anatomy of the normal and of the abnormal.
Both are good, the latter excellent, so much so that we should like to see the first part omitted altogether. It is practically pure anatomy, and not what a student in his clinical years wants, or will find time to read. The second section is exceedingly good, full of sound anatomy served up in an appetizing and useful form. It may be warmly commended to anyone who wants to retain what is useful in all the anatomy he has learned and to learn how to make the best use of his knowledge in acquiring clinical acumen. The very numerous illustrations are clear and well chosen and the index is adequate.
Handbook of the Vaccine Treatment of Chronic Rheumatic Diseases.
By H. Warren Crowe, D.M. Second Edition. Pp. ix., 79. London : Oxford University Press, 1932. Price 3s. 6d.?The treatment advocated in this handbook is based on the hypothesis (it can hardly be called more) that a strain of skin staphylococcus, named by the author Micrococcus Deformans, plays a predominant part in the production of the condition known as rheumatoid arthritis, and that various streptococci of alimentary type have an equally important share in causing fibrositis and osteo-arthritis. One main purpose of the book is to contend that an autogenous vaccine is not absolutely necessary, but that satisfactory results can usually be obtained by the use of a " stock " vaccine. The dosage recommended is in all cases small, and improvement has been observed in several patients to follow the administration of no more than 100 streptococci plus 100 staphylococci : since the stock streptococcal vaccine contains 155 different strains, it would therefore seem that the subcutaneous introduction once a week of, at most, one streptococcus of the strain responsible for the illness might be all that is necessary. engaging volume of some 260 pages, though packed with excellent material, is, on the whole, rather easier to read than to review. Perhaps the first criticism that occurs to one is that the text is happier than the title. Dealing as it does so much with orthodox medicine, it might well have been called " The Law in Relation to Medical Practice," and it could certainly be read with much profit by any recently-qualified man.
Here and there, of course, the contents betray the layman, as on page 23, for instance, he infers that chloroform and ether come into the schedules of the Dangerous Drugs Act, and in the first chapter he seems to be unaware that there is a M.R.C.P. (Lond.) as well as the Fellowship and Licentiate. His views that Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians could sue for their fees under some other diploma has the merit of novelty, and I commend it to those of my medical colleagues so qualified who feel themselves handicapped in this way. In conclusion, one may say that this volume breaks new ground, and its wealth of information should make it an important addition to the bookshelves of every practitioner.
London: Cassell & Co. Ltd. 1932. Price ?6.?Choyce's System of Surgery needs no introduction to the profession, with whom it has been deservedly popular since its first publication in 1911. In the present edition fourteen new contributors make their appearance, while some of those previously contributing have dropped out. All the articles have been extensively revised or rewritten in the light of recent knowledge. There is, for example, an entirely new article by Mr. Birkett upon the uses of radium, while those dealing with the surgery of the parathyroids and of the sympathetic system have been brought fully up to date. Mr. Groves provides an excellent chapter upon fractures and Mr. Wilfred Trotter's thoughtful and original contributions dealing with the surgerjof brain and cord have been revised by Mr. Julian Taylor.
The printing is as good as ever and numbers of fresh illustrations have been added. Mr. Choyce and his collaborators are to be congratulated upon having carried out a difficult task in a highly satisfactory manner. 1932. Price 20s.?It is a question whether Bailey and Love, who wrote this second volume of their Short Practice of Surgery, or the students who will read it are the more to be envied. Certainly the work is a marvel among medical text-books and represents as great an advance in teaching the subject as modern operative technique does in practical achievement. It covers the surgery of the chest, abdomen, head, central nervous and integumentary system. The best surgical procedures known to-day, whether just out or time honoured, are the only ones included. The same applies to the descriptions and classification of surgical diseases. As a result of this dexterous selection and simplification of the voluminous literature of the day, a student now, for the first time, can well and truly encompass the whole realm of general surgery in the short years which the teaching curriculum allows. For not only are there delightful lucidity of language and pleasing style, but also splendid, memorable illustrations, and beautiful and faultless letterpress. It is a common complaint of the whole wide range of the surgical text-books that, though any one may excel in some features, they fail miserably in others and leave the student dissatisfied.
But in this compendium is realized the student's dream of a book that leaves nothing out which he wants to know. More than that, the method of arrangement of the text and the comprehensive lists of affections of different organs make the well-packed information most easily assimilable.
No surgical guide contains such encyclopedic information nor displays its contents with such marvellous intelligence. Maingot is to be congratulated. His new book, The Injection Treatment of Varicose Veins, Haemorrhoids, and other Conditions, not only contains the latest but also the best practical information on this expanding field of therapy-It is an admirable guide to various methods and a safeguard against pitfalls. The need is emphasized for a preliminary general, as well as a local, examination of the patient proposed for injection. The list of contra-indications is particularly valuable for beginners in the treatment. A novel method for dealing with saphena varix in the groin is described, called " twin injection," which is also efficacious for resistant veins.
That urticaria may ensue in the use of sodium morrhuate is news to the reviewer, and a valuable warning. The Dickson Wright method of treating varicose ulcers is clearly recounted, and his views on the defective venous hydraulics underlying the condition explained. The two chapters on injections for haemorrhoids and for obliterating troublesome synovial and serous sacs fully informs readers desirous of giving such methods a trial. Pp. xxvi., 465.

Illustrated.
Bristol : John Wright & Sons, Ltd. 1932. Price 20s. This is easily the best text-book on the subject, both for student and for practitioner, and the third edition maintains the high standard of its forebears. We offer it, therefore, a full and hearty welcome, and it is in no carping spirit that we venture one criticism. The space devoted to major operations is wasted : few of the readers will ever perform one. And there is beginning a tendency even more disastrous in books than in men?with age comes obesity. Ltd. 1932. Price 25s.?This book will be read by all otologists: it is doubtful whether it will appeal to others, and perhaps this is as well, as the authors are inclined to present their own opinions as accepted doctrine. It consists of a series of extremely interesting essays on otological subjects, principally the investigation of types and degrees of deafness and their graphic representation ; the pathology of aural disease ; and details of operative technique. There is much that is new (including the construction skiagraphy is mentioned in the diagnosis of foreign bodies, but not in connection with otitis media ; aural ionisation and parathyroid in the treatment of otosclerosis are both mentioned but not described. To each chapter is appended a valuable bibliography of recent literature. There are 70 plates, well chosen and beautifully reproduced, the great majority from otological and anatomical publications ; over 50 audiographic charts, and nearly 100 diagrams and sketches, of which latter many fail to reach the general standard of excellence. The index is adequate.